Communications from your Point of Contact

Good Day Alumni and Prospective Graduates:

As a reminder, Commencement 2008 will take place the weekend of May 17, 2008. You will receive invitations to the Commencement events by the first week of April asking that you RSVP and indicate the number of guests that will be in attendance. Each student is allotted seven color-coded tickets. Additional tickets may be requested. The number of graduates not using their allotment of seven tickets determines the number of extra additional tickets available. In case of severe weather, three of the 7 coded tickets will admit guests into the Houston Field House for the ceremony. Additional guests will be able to view the ceremony from various video sites on campus.

Invitation package - Your invitation package will include invitations to the following:

Additional items that you should be aware of :

Departmental Events: You may monitor your Departmental/School Events via <http://www.rpi.edu/academics/commencement/dept_events.html> as they should be posted as Departments solidify their plans.

Services for Guests with Special Requirements: Requests for accomodations (wheelchairs, assistive listening devices, large print programs, interpreters, etc.) for guests with special requirements should be submitted by April 18, 2008 via the request form http://www.rpi.edu/academics/commencement/guest_reqs.html.

Photography and Video: Chappell Graduation Images will photograph each graduate at the time of diploma presentation and upon exiting the stage at the Commencement Exercises. You will receive a free digital proof of each photo in the mail within 5 to 7 days following the ceremony. Further information on package prices will be sent to your home with these digital proofs. Please go to <http://www.rpi.edu/academics/commencement/photo_video.html> for additional information.

Academic Regalia: Academic Regalia is required for participating graduate. Please order from February 21 to April 15 through the Rensselaer Bookstore. For information on ordering Rensselaer Diploma Frames, Rensselaer personalized Graduation Announcements, Cap and Gowns, or Class Rings, please go to the Rensselaer Union Bookstore http://www.bookstore.rpi.edu. If you have questions about Commencement merchandise, please contact the Bookstore at 518-276-6552.

Thanks,

Ronnie

* This email was distributed to the email addresses of August 2007 graduates, December 2007 graduates, and prospective May 2008 graduates on 3/17/2008 . Please contact your Point of contact for additional details.

Good Day Alumni:

I hope that this email finds you in great spirits and health. Once again, I would like to extend my congratulations with regards to your recent graduation from Rensselaer. It was a pleasure supporting you as you pursued your degree via Distance and I am very proud to have served as your Point of Contact.

As you may already know, Commencement 2008 weekend will take place the weekend of May 17, 2008. All Summer 2007 graduates, December 2007 graduates and Spring 2008 prospective graduates will be invited to participate in the the events that take place that weekend. You will receive invitations to the EWP Commencement Celebration and Reception, Rensselaer's 202nd Commencement Ceremony, and the President's Commencement Celebration Picnic by the end of March asking that you RSVP and indicate the number of guests that will be in attendance. Note: You should not request tickets through any other Office but ours. Please go to http://www.rpi.edu/academics/commencement/index.html for lodging information, the purchasing of academic regalia, events information etc. Please note that Diploma frames, Class Rings and personalized graduation items are also available at the bookstore for purchase at http://www.bookstore.rpi.ed. Graduation information can be found on our website as well ~ http://www.rpi.edu/ewp/distance/commencement2007/index.html. The page will be updated shortly to reflect Commencement 2008 specific information.

Please note that your RCS account expires six weeks after you graduate and you will no longer have access to your current RPI email address and other on-campus services that you utilized as a student. {Please note that you will always be able to access the Student Information System (for unofficial transcripts, previous grades, student record, etc.) and need to contact the Registrar at registrar@rpi.edu to reset your PIN.} You will receive an expiration notice two weeks prior to the actual expiration of your RPI email address. We highly encourage you to take advantage of Rensselaer’s E-Mail for Life. E-Mail for Life is an address at the @alum.rpi.edu domain that lasts a lifetime. No more worrying about sending friends and colleagues a new address each time you change Internet Service Providers – give them one address that follows you wherever you go! Plus, you show your Rensselaer pride each time you send or receive mail. You may select one of two levels of service: a free forwarding address, which forwards mail to a different address, or enhanced, Web-based service. Please go to http://www.alumni.rpi.edu/intouch/email_for_life.html for more information.

Congratulations and best wishes!

Thanks,

Ronnie

* This email was distributed to the email addresses of August and December 2007 graduates on 2/1/2008 . Please contact your Point of contact for additional details.

Spring 2008 Announcements - please make a note of the updates

Good Day Rensselaer Student!

I hope that this email finds you in great health. Welcome to all new students and welcome back to continuing ones! On behalf of the Office of Graduate Education, I wish you continued success and the best of luck this semester. At this time, we would like to bring your attention to the following:

Spring 2008 webpage - We have created a webpage that is user-friendly and geared towards providing useful information about the Spring 2008 courses and other important items that you should be aware of. Please visit http://www.rpi.edu/ewp/distance/registration/index.html for pertinent course information and other relevant information. Here you will find important dates (Academic Drop deadlines, Financial Drop Deadlines, etc.) that you should be aware of, Spring 2008 graduation requirements, important semester announcements, etc. In addition, you can find the Spring 2008 course descriptions, class meeting times and your Spring 2008 courses’ video catalog at http://www.rpi.edu/ewp/distance/academics/schedule_s08.html.

Spring 2008 registration - At this time, you should be registered for your Spring 2008 courses. The online registration period is currently closed. If you would like to add or drop a course at this point, please complete the attached registration form and fax to 518.276.8026. Please note that course information memos will be distributed to your RPI email account for every course that you are registered for. These memos are very important as they direct you to Rensselaer’s Learning Management System site where you will find your course’s schedule, syllabus and other pertinent information. Please note that most courses this Spring follow a LIVE schedule. This simply means that you will be expected to submit your assignments, projects, and homework at the same time that the on-campus students submit theirs. Please note that some courses either require or strongly recommend live participation, however.

Potential Spring 2008 Graduates should be aware of the following requirements:

Students pursuing a certificate – Upon completion of your fourth course, please notify our Office. Once the grade of your fourth course has posted, we will see to it that a certificate is generated. You will receive your certificate 3-4 weeks after notifying our Office.

Independent Study - Any student planning to do an INDEPENDENT STUDY course this Spring needs to submit an Independent Study form. We need to know the faculty who you will be working with, the course title, and the number of credits. This needs to be approved by the faculty member before we can register you. Independent Study forms can be found at http://www.rpi.edu/dept/srfs/independent_study.pdf. Please complete the form and fax to 518.276.8026. Our office will then forward it to the faculty member for their signature/approval.

Change in Personal Information - Any change of address, phone, etc. should be made by you, the student in SIS. We also require that you send a change of information notification email to Mecaila Smith via email as well. If you are changing your site location from where you were previously, please notify Mecaila Smith immediately. It is important that we have the new information as quickly as possible to ensure receipt of all course materials in a timely fashion. Failure to do so may result in material distribution/shipping delays.

Exam Liaison - If your exam liaison (not applicable to all students) has changed from the Fall semester or if you need one, please be sure to contact our office as soon as possible.

Campus Cohort Visits – Campus Cohort students are expected to come to campus 2-4 times a semester for every course that they are enrolled in. At the beginning of each semester, our Office provides campus cohort students with a list of faculty’s required dates for visits. Please note that one of the required dates is the first day/night of each class you are registered for. Please be sure to confirm and/or inform our office of your intended travel so that we can provide you with directions, updated information, etc., so that you can plan accordingly.

Updates –

NOTE: Barring any technical difficulties, Troy originating videostream courses will be available online within an hour after the on-campus recording is completed. Should a technical problem occur, a notification will appear in the announcements section of your course website the following morning. Hartford originating videostream courses will be posted within 12 hours of their on-campus recording.

To introduce you to the tool, we have prepared a brief tutorial, which can be found at: http://mediasite.itops.rpi.edu/Mediasite4/Viewer/?peid=2494087860ee4404a691378406e2a747 . This link will also be available in the Student Resources section of your course website.

We hope you share in Rensselaer’s enthusiasm in being able to offer these new tools to you for the delivery of your distance education course offerings. We encourage you to share your experiences with us by emailing Evelyn Smith at smithe2@rpi.edu.

We look forward to another semester working with you!
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Thanks,

Ronnie

* This email was distributed to your RPI email account on 1/ 18 /2008. Please contact your Point of contact if you need any of the forms or documents mentioned.